Houston residents stew and swelter after storm Beryl leaves millions without power
By: Juan A. Lozano And Mark Vancleave
HOUSTON (AP) — The return of searing heat in the Houston area has deepened the misery for people still without power after Hurricane Beryl left residents in search of places to cool off and fuel up as the extended outages strained one of the nation’s largest cities.
More than 1.7 million homes and businesses in Texas lacked electricity Wednesday morning, down from a peak of over 2.7 million on Monday, according to PowerOutage.us. State officials faced questions over whether the power utility that covers much of the area had sufficiently prepared.
Beryl weakened as it moved deeper into the U.S. and early Wednesday was a post-tropical cyclone centred over northeastern Indiana.
In the Houston area, Beryl compounded and repeated the misery of May, when storms killed eight people and left nearly one million without power.
High temperatures Tuesday climbed into the 90s (above 32.2 Celsius) with humidity that made it feel even hotter. Similar heat and humidity were expected Wednesday. The National Weather Service described the conditions as potentially dangerous, given the lack of power and air conditioning.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels target a U.S.-flagged container ship in the Gulf of Aden
By: Michael Wakin
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted United States-flagged container ship in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday, officials said, the latest assault by the group on the crucial maritime trade route.
The captain of the ship reported an explosion in close proximity to the vessel off the coast of Nishtun, Yemen, close to the country’s border with Oman, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said. The Joint Maritime Information Center, which is overseen by the U.S. Navy, identified the ship as the Maersk Sentosa.
The explosion took place in the farthest reaches of the waterway earlier targeted by the rebels, the centre said.
It did not elaborate on what caused the explosion, though the Houthis have been known to use drones and missiles as well as bomb-carrying drone boats.
Man suspected of killing the family of BBC radio commentator has been found, British police say
By: Pan Pylas
LONDON (AP) — British police said they found Wednesday the man suspected of killing the wife and two daughters of a well-known BBC radio commentator near London in a brutal crossbow attack.
In a statement, Hertfordshire Police said 26-year-old Kyle Clifford was found in the Enfield area of north London, near his home, and that he is receiving medical treatment for his injuries. Police did not say how those injuries happened but stressed that they had not fired any shots.
The BBC confirmed that the women killed were the family of John Hunt — his 61-year-old wife Carol Hunt and their daughters Louise and Hannah, aged 25 and 28 respectively.
Las Vegas eyes record of 5th consecutive day over 115 degrees as heat wave continues to scorch U.S.
By: Ken Ritter And Christopher Weber
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Used to shrugging off the heat, Las Vegas residents are now eyeing the thermometer as the desert city is on track Wednesday to set a record for the most consecutive days over 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46.1 Celsius) amid a lingering hot spell that will continue scorching much of the U.S. into the weekend.
On Tuesday, Las Vegas flirted again with the all-time temperature record of 120 F (48.8 C) reached on Sunday, but settled for a new daily mark of 119 F (48.3 C) that smashed the old one of 116 F (46.6 C) set for the date in 2021. Forecasters say the city will likely hit a record fifth straight day above 115 F (46.1 C) on Wednesday.
Even by desert standards, the prolonged baking that Nevada’s largest city is experiencing is nearly unprecedented.
Tuesday’s high temperature tied the mark of four straight days above 115 F (46.1 C) set in July 2005.
Armed bandits interrupt a rescue of migrants in the Mediterranean off Libya, an aid group says
ROME (AP) — An aid group that rescues migrants in the Mediterranean says one of its missions was interrupted by armed bandits who boarded the overloaded smugglers’ boat and sped away with it after the migrants threw themselves into the sea.
SOS Mediterranee filmed the incident Tuesday. The group said it occurred about 46 nautical miles north of Zuwara on Libya’s western coast, a frequent launching point for smuggling operations to bring migrants to Europe.
According to the video, SOS Mediterranee volunteers were helping transfer the 93 passengers from the wooden boat onto their rescue vessel when two rubber dinghies approached.
A masked bandit leapt onto the migrant boat, sparking panic among the remaining passengers, who threw themselves into the sea. The bandit took control of the empty boat and steered it away from the scene as the SOS Mediterranee crew plucked people from the sea.
A shootout between Pakistani Taliban and police during a raid kills 6, including 3 officers
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Security forces raided a hideout of Pakistani Taliban on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Peshawar on Wednesday, triggering a shootout that killed three officers and as many insurgents, police said.
A militant commander Abdul Rahim was among the insurgents killed in the raid which took place in the town of Matni, a local police officer Ashfaq Khan said.
TTP has stepped up its attacks on security forces since the Afghan Taliban seized power in neighbouring Afghanistan in 2021.
Pakistani officials often accuse Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers of giving shelter to TTP fighters, a charge Kabul rejects. TTP denies using Afghan soil for attacks in Pakistan.
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.
Double-decker bus collides with milk truck in northern India, killing at least 18
By: Biswajeet Banerjee
LUCKNOW, India (AP) — A double-decker passenger bus collided with a milk truck in northern India on Wednesday, killing at least 18 people and injuring many others, officials said.
The collision occurred on an expressway in Uttar Pradesh state, and 19 injured people were rushed to the hospital by villagers in the area, said police officer Arvind Kumar, adding that their condition was reported to be stable. The bus was travelling from the northern state of Bihar to the capital New Delhi.
Gaurang Rathi, a government official, said that according to a preliminary investigation the bus may have been speeding when it struck the milk truck from behind, which led both vehicles to overturn. The collision was severe enough that one side of the bus was torn off, causing passengers to be ejected from the vehicle. Images on television showed bodies scattered across the road.
India has some of the highest road death rates in the world, with hundreds of thousands of people killed and injured annually. Most crashes are blamed on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and aging vehicles.
12 schoolchildren and driver killed when minibus crashes in South Africa
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Twelve schoolchildren and their driver were killed in South Africa on Wednesday when their minibus overturned and caught fire on a road in Gauteng province, officials said. The accident took place a day after schools reopened after the winter holidays.
Seven other children were injured in accident, which took place in the town of Merafong, west of the country’s economic hub Johannesburg.
Reports said a small truck, known as a bakkie, had slammed into the back of the minibus transporting the children, causing it to overturn and erupt into flames.
Education and transport officials visited the scene of the crash and the injured children at a hospital in the nearby area of Carletonville. Head of the Gauteng provincial government, Panyaza Lesufi, also visited the injured children.
